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First Impressions - Guacamelee! Gold Edition

I've only played just under an hour of Guacamelee! Gold Edition so far but it's been enough time to learn the ropes and make a bit of progress through the game. This actually happens to be one of the games I bought in my last Steam Sale haul. Despite the game receiving a solid Metacritic rating of 88 it was still a bit of a gamble for me considering I'm not a fan of self-proclaimed "Metroidvania" games. The setting however, which reminded me of one of my favourite adventure games of all time, Grim Fandango, made me think twice. The game only selling for $4 is what made me take the plunge.

What I like

Not just a platformer: Thanks to the addition of wrestling combat moves to the game, it definitely makes things more interesting and ensures the game isn't just your everyday platformer.

Music: The soundtrack is inspired by Mexican music such as Mariachi, a style of Mexican folk music. It can be an acquired taste but I personally love it and it definitely makes the soundtrack stand out from its peers. Kudos to Peter Chapman and Rom Di Prisco.

Art style: The game has got a very Mexican Art Deco style to the artwork - it's basically similar to Grim Fandango except in 2D. I really dig the art style and its clean lines.

So many pop culture references: If there's any pop culture reference out there whether it be an internet meme or a gaming in-joke, it's in this game. I've only played a short time and have come across several references including the ORLY owls, Super Mario Bros., Grumpy Cat, gaming blog Destructoid, Viva Pinata and Minecraft.

What I dislike

Nothing: I can't think of anything to dislike about this game save for the fact that ultimately it's still a platformer, which isn't my favourite genre but as mentioned before, they've done a good job to make things fresh by adding wrestling moves to the formula. Also, the game isn't ideal on a keyboard but they do warn you about that before you play.

Verdict

I'm not terribly good at platformers so hopefully the game continues on its path of a linear difficulty curve. What I've seen so far though is hard to fault. I love the art style, I love the music, the combat keeps things interesting and there are several chuckles to be had whilst identifying all the pop culture references you'll come across.

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